Gas suspension in steel re-rolling mills sparks protest

Steel re-rolling mill owners in Chittagong will form a human chain today in front of their respective factories protesting a decision of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd (KGDCL) to suspend gas supply to those mills for three days a week.
The decision came from a meeting between the mill owners and leaders of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) yesterday, the chamber said in a statement.
KGDCL on Thursday withdrew its previous instruction that industries will have to keep production shut three days a week due to an acute gas crisis in the port city. But the gas supplier informed the steel re-rolling mill owners on Friday night that the decision of gas suspension will remain active for them.
KGDCL said it will ration gas among the steel re-rolling mills, according to the statement.
Around 38 gas-based industries faced closure in the last 10 years due to a gas crisis, said the mill owners in the meeting with the chamber.
According to Petrobangla, there is gas crisis in the country, they said. But the state-run energy company supplies 20 times more gas to the industries in Dhaka than the industries in Chittagong, they alleged.
They proposed Petrobangla suspend gas supply to industries all over the country proportionately.